by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:15 AM ET, Tue March 24, 2020
United States President Donald Trump announced Monday the deadline to get Real IDs has been postponed.
According to the Washington Examiner, President Trump announced during a White House briefing the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in unexpected delays, which has caused his administration to push back the October 1 deadline.
President Trump said a new deadline date would be announced "very soon."
The decision was made as a result of the social distancing recommendations in place, which would cause problems for travelers arriving at any department of motor vehicle facilities that remained open to obtain the new identification.
"At a time when we're asking Americans to maintain social distancing, we do not want to require people to go with their local DMV," President Trump said during the press conference.
Even before the coronavirus outbreak, lawmakers were calling for a delay in the deadline for travelers to obtain the credentials needed to board domestic flights due to concerns that not enough travelers signed up.
A letter sent by Homeland Security to the House Transportation Committee in February showed that only 34 percent of the 276 million ID holders had been issued new compliant driver's licenses and ID cards.
Add in the government's inability to process Real ID applications due to closures and restrictions put in place to combat the viral outbreak, and the postponement of the deadline was inevitable.
"We are pleased that the federal administration has readily agreed to the governors' request to extend the REAL ID deadline," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement. "This will help contribute to our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, and avoid major confusion for the states."
Last week, multiple states called on the federal government to postpone the enforcement date.
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